LION'S TEETH: Dandelion

Excuse me, we're looking for eye-openers - not mouth openers!
 
Is there anything special about a lion's mouth apart from his bad breath?
Well...there's no point telling a lion to chew his tucker properly because he can't - he has no molar teeth - but standby (not too close!)... 

Okay, these are dandelion seeds that all little kids like to blow but where are the lion’s teeth we were promised?
 
 Dandelion got its name from the serrated leaves that resemble lions’ teeth, called 'Denta leonis' in Latin or 'Dents de Lion' in French!

 

Ask most gardeners, landscapers, green-keepers, farmers or graziers - they will tell you that Dandelion is just common flatweed in need of a good dose of Roundup or broadleaf herbicide.

What can we say in its favour?

 

•  Dandelion is rich in Vitamins A & C and is possibly the most useful of all herbs. 
• It can be beneficial for eyes, plus liver, kidneys, intestines, spleen, pancreas, gall-bladder, stomach, bladder...(yup…sore guts!) 
• It is useful in treating: jaundice, gallstones, cirrhosis, hepatitis, arthritis, constipation, rheumatism, gout, arteriosclerosis, cellulite, skin and eye disorders...using an extract called Taraxacum.
• Dandelion wine is made from the flowers
• It makes a cleansing tea that is diuretic and blood purifying
• A coffee substitute can be made from Dandelion roots
• Dandelion leaves are useful in salads

 

Okay, that's mighty impressive but is there anything special about the plant itself? The Dandelion flower is highly developed as a composite of 100 or more tiny florets, 'perfect' flowers whose ovaries produce fertile seeds – WITHOUT POLLINATION! Not only that, it is capable of 'vegetative propagation' i.e. it can completely regenerate from ONLY a root.

So, is the Dandelion just a useless prolific weed...or is it one of God's amazing gifts to us as a perennial herb?

Photo credit: Warwick Wells

 

 

 

'BRAINLESS AND FOOT-IN-MOUTH'

Which brainless animal, smaller than a pinhead, extends its undercarriage for a successful landing?

The oyster may have a heart, a stomach, a mouth, 2 kidneys, and 2 rows of tentacles but it has no eyes - not even a brain!

In this part of the world, oysters spawn with king tides at Easter and Christmas, producing larvae called ‘spat’. After 24 hours a bi-valve shell has started to develop so the larva is now called a ‘veliger’, swimming around using tiny hair-like cilia on its gills for propulsion, in its search for a suitable site to settle. The veliger ‘lowers its undercarriage’ by forming a muscular foot that extends from between the valves for testing the different surfaces available. After locating the landing ground, the ‘pediveliger’ (veliger with a foot) now produces a cement for adhering to the chosen site.
How clever is that?! There’s no brain to select ‘undercarriage down’- in fact, the oyster’s whole program has been wired in by the Designer and triggered by the proximity of the new moon and the sun. Clever huh?!
At least that’s one time when a no brainer like putting your foot in your mouth pays off!

Acknowledgements: Glen Dodds, oystergrower, Port Macquarie, NSW

BRAINLESS - WITH FOOT IN MOUTH!

 

Cottontails & Easter bunnies

 

Who needs chocolate Easter bunnies? 
Meet ‘Ballina Bunny’, our very own resident that wanders from lawn to lawn here in Ballina Crescent, sampling a delightful variety of grasses.                                            

Cottontails, European rabbits and hares all belong to the Leporidae family. 
Deep inside its burrow after feeding, the rabbit passes soft droppings of partly digested food which are then re-eaten to extract the maximum nourishment, thanks to a special pouch, the caecum, secreting bacteria into the large intestine. Finally it’s time to pass those hard pellet droppings outside the burrow where they belong.          

By the way, bacteria were first described in the mid-1670’s by amateur scientist Anton van Leeuwenhoek, and it wasn’t until the late 1800’s that Louis Pasteur began to unravel the mysteries of bacteriology, proving that only life can produce life.    

Only life can produce life??  Yes, we have known that for over 200 years. 
So how did life spontaneously first begin?  Supernaturally??  

Let’s get back on our rabbit trail…
How long have we known about the rabbit’s eating habits?                             
Here is Moses warning the children of Israel about 3,500 years ago:     

"...and the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you."  Leviticus 11:6

Skeptics have scoffed at this strange directive saying that the Bible has got it wrong again – “Come on…everyone knows rabbits don’t chew the cud!”                       
Oh yes they do.                                                                   
Here are the Hebrew words Moses actually used: alah gerah, meaning ‘casts up chewed food’.                                                              
What do ya know!?...it sure looks like the God that Moses was always talking about got it right yet again.

 

Acknowledgements:  
The Creation Answers Book, Creation Book Publishers, 2006, Brisbane                                                    
Wildlife Fact File 
WorldBook,2005,Chicago